MyConservationPark Preview

MyConservationPark has grand ambitions, but little fun

MyConservationPark is, like Ecotopia, a Facebook game with real-world ambitions. It’s a game that attempts to raise awareness of issues of sustainability as you clean up and maintain a wildlife conservation. A percentage of in-game purchases are even donated to various charities. Unfortunately, in its current state there’s just not enough gameplay to keep you engaged for long.

The game itself is divded into two categories: play and decorate. Playing involves going around the park and solving all sorts of problems. Sometimes you’ll need to pick up some trash, other times you’ll have to arrest some poachers or install a solar panel. A never ending list of problems appears at the top of the screen and you’ll need to tackle them in order. And tackling them is as simple as clicking on whatever is in the way, whether it’s a bear trap or a forest fire. If you click on it it will disappear for good.

The only obstacle to solving some of the problems is that you’l regularly need to hire new staff to handle things, but money seemed relatively plenfitul during our time with the game, so this doesn’t seem to be too much of an issue.

But the main problem with the quest structure is that it never feels like it’s building towards something. Instead, it just feels like you’re playing through a never ending sequence of random events with no real progression. It grows tedious after a while.

This is especially disappointing since the game has such a great premise. The idea of building and maintaining an animal conservation has the potential to not only be fun but also educational. MyConservationPark even sports some charming cartoon visuals that at least make the decoration portion enjoyable. But without a proper quest structure there’s little incentive to come back to the game regularly.

Hopefully the game, which just launched late last week, will eventually get the updates it so desperately needs. Ohterwise, this could be yet another educational game missing one key element: fun.